A coal loader from coffee stirrers

[gregh]

I decided I needed a coal loader to go over the track at Maple Jn. It's about 200mm long, 180 wide and 500mm high. This one is meant to stay outside, so I?ve used waterproof glue everywhere. This is what I want it to look like:

I cut the hopper ?former? from one piece of fluteboard, folded it and held with masking tape. No need for strength as the timber framing will hold it together.

Then covered with paddle pop sticks (coffee stirrers) glued on with Fuller's Ultra Clear. I used about 200 of them. (I started another project while waiting for the glue to dry ? see my 1950s Service Station topic, and finished it before the loader!)

I weathered the wood using black shoe polish and painted with clear satin varnish to finish. Not every railway can say they polish their coal bins!!

The main framing is timber strips of 8x8 mm treated pine, glued and pinned.

That?s the bin part finished, now for the top where coal is delivered from the mine. It?s just a corrugated iron (aluminum) shed housing the non-operating mine winder, made from bits of scrap lids, cardboard tube and balsa.

There?s a HO gauge track leading down to a ?mine entrance? about 700mm long. I?d love to make this operate, but it?s too much hassle.

So this is the finished product:

 

[Martino]

Superb Greg! Just my sort of project.

I have a LARGE box of coffee stirrers that come in useful for all sorts of stuff.

I liked the shoe polish weathering too. Here I use a wood sealer that allows the wood to weather while still stopping it from rotting. Yours give more color to the weathering - which looks good.

A very cool project, Sir.

 

[Steve]

Brilliant work Gregh

 

[Shawn]

That looks awsome. Something like that would fit nicely on my RR.

 

[Richie]

Looks fantastic love the boot polish effect on the coffee stirrers

 

[nico]

great build i love it

 

[pugwash]

Top notch!
The shoe polish idea has been stored for future [strike]plagarism[/strike] use.

 

[JRinTawa]

Top notch!
The shoe polish idea has been stored for future [strike]plagarism[/strike] use.

Ditto

 

[gregh]

Top notch!
The shoe polish idea has been stored for future [STRIKE]plagarism[/STRIKE] use.

Plagarists welcome.
I've only ever used polish on balsa wagons before - see the brown coal wagons in my original post. This is the first time I'vce tried it outside. Rain last night didn't worry it.
Another 5 years and we'll know if it works!

 

[gregh]

Superb Greg! Just my sort of project.
I liked the shoe polish weathering too. Here I use a wood sealer that allows the wood to weather while still stopping it from rotting. Yours give more color to the weathering - which looks good.

A very cool project, Sir.

Thanks Martino. For most of my ouside wood - eg sleepers and trestles, I use black cement oxide in water to give it an initial grey colour, then the the rain slowly washes that off and normal weathering takes over.

 

[beavercreek]

Another great building. The boot polish is a quick and great way of weathering new wood. It Looks the biz!

 

[trammayo]

Hi Greg - looks great - and I like the feed from the mine. There's only one thing that puzzles me - how well does the varnish take to the shoe polish - given that the latter is supposed to be wax based?

Mick

 

[korm kormsen]

your coaling station looks good.
i think, i too will be honouring your idea of polishing wood, by copying it soon.

 

[gregh]

There's only one thing that puzzles me - how well does the varnish take to the shoe polish - given that the latter is supposed to be wax based?
Mick

As I said above, this is my first try. But I just sprayed it with clear enamel (cheap spray can) and it has taken OK so far. Hasn't peeled off or anything.

 

[tac foley]

That, Sir, is purely magical - I love it. I bet you don't have ten dollars in it, either. MY kind of modelling, that.

Best from up here.

tac
OVGRS
POCRR